Create Reports from Microsoft Dataverse Data in Looker Studio

Looker Studio, formerly known as Google Data Studio, empowers users to craft customized reports featuring data visualizations that can be shared with clients while reflecting your brand identity. When combined with CData Connect Cloud, you gain immediate cloud-to-cloud access to Microsoft Dataverse data to create visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article provides step-by-step instructions on establishing a virtual database for Microsoft Dataverse and generating reports from Microsoft Dataverse data within Looker Studio.

CData Connect Cloud offers a seamless cloud-to-cloud interface tailored for Microsoft Dataverse, making it straightforward to construct reports directly from live Microsoft Dataverse data within Looker Studio without the need for data replication. As you create visualizations, Looker Studio generates queries to retrieve data. With its inherent optimized data processing capabilities, CData Connect Cloud efficiently channels all supported query operations, including filters, JOINs, and more, directly to Microsoft Dataverse. This leverages server-side processing to swiftly provide the requested Microsoft Dataverse data.

Configure Microsoft Dataverse Connectivity for Looker Studio

Connectivity to Microsoft Dataverse from Looker Studio is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with Microsoft Dataverse data from Looker Studio, we start by creating and configuring a Microsoft Dataverse connection.

1. Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
2. Select "Microsoft Dataverse" from the Add Connection panel
3. Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to Microsoft Dataverse.

   You can connect without setting any connection properties for your user credentials. Below are the minimum connection properties required to connect.

   • InitiateOAuth: Set this to GETANDREFRESH. You can use InitiateOAuth to avoid repeating the OAuth exchange and manually setting the OAuthAccessToken.
   • OrganizationUrl: Set this to the organization URL you are connecting to, such as https://myorganization.crm.dynamics.com.
   • Tenant (optional): Set this if you wish to authenticate to a different tenant than your default. This is required to work with an organization not on your default Tenant.

   When you connect the Common Data Service OAuth endpoint opens in your default browser. Log in and grant permissions. The OAuth process completes automatically.

4. Click Create & Test
5. Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add Microsoft Dataverse Connection page and update the User-based permissions.

With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to Microsoft Dataverse data from Looker Studio.

Visualize Live Microsoft Dataverse Data from Looker Studio

The steps below outline connecting to CData Connect Cloud from Looker Studio to create a new Microsoft Dataverse data source and build a simple visualization from the data.

1. Log into Looker Studio, click data sources, create a new data source, and choose CData Connect Cloud Connector.
2. Click Authorize and allow access to your Google account.
3. Click Authorize to authenticate with your CData Connect Cloud instance
4. In the CData Connect Cloud Connector in Looker Studio select a Connection (e.g. CDS1) and click Next
5. Select a Table (e.g. Accounts) or use a Custom Query and click Connect to continue
6. If needed, modify columns, click Create Report, and add the data source to the report.
7. Select a visualization style and add it to the report.
8. Select Dimensions and Measures to customize your visualization.

Live Access to Microsoft Dataverse Data from Cloud Applications

Now you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live Microsoft Dataverse data from your Looker Studio workbook. You can create more data sources and new visualizations, build reports, and more — all without replicating Microsoft Dataverse data.

Try CData Connect Cloud and get real-time data access to 100+ SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources directly from your cloud applications.